B.O.W. - a mini quilt failure that actually was none

I seem to make a lot of blue and orange quilts lately... well, it is a beautiful colour combination! 

The is one is called B.O.W. - Blue. Orange. White. 

This quilt was actually the very first attempt for my mini quilt swap at QuiltCon 2020 organised by The Modern Quilt Guild. My swap partner was Audrey Esarey... and the pressure was on. 

I first didn't really like where this project was going but as the quilt was finished it grew on me and now I do really like it. I made Audrey another one though - see blog post here. 

Audrey's quilt is on the right. I used the same colours, and they do look good together! 

I first started to make monochromatic log cabin blocks and then arranged them. 

The orange blocks were always to be the focal point so they did get a special place in the overall design. 

I match stick quilted in a light blue 40wt Aurifil thread. Loved how that turned out. 

I made a faced binding, my go to choice lately. 

I used a bit of linen fabrics, they add such a beautiful texture. 

Here is B.O.W. with the original design source and the quilt that Audrey liked and wanted a mini quilt with the same colours.  

So, I first thought this was a failure - never judge the quilt before it's finished! 

Wonky Quarter Log Cabin Boy Quilt

I can finally show my second finished Bee Quilt today:

I couldn't be happier with this quilt, my bee mates did a fantastic job with their beautiful blocks! I opted for an improv and wonky quarter log cabin block and since this is a quilt for a boy I asked for 'boyish' fabrics with very graphic prints and solid white.

The colour scheme was navy and light blue, mustard/ curry and white. You can read more about that here. It's always a nice surprise when you open the envelopes from your bee mates and see what blocks they made since we sew with our own fabrics. It gives the quilt such a great variety of different fabrics without looking completely wild and uncoordinated.

For the back of the quilt I simply opted for cross hatch fabrics and a white stripe in the middle. The quilt measures 1.20 x 1.50m (47x59"), the individual blocks are 12.5"sq.

We all followed a tutorial by Debbie of A Quilter's Table to create the wonky blocks. Wonky and Improv can be challenging for some quilters so my bee mate Melanie wrote a blog post on how to 'plan' your improv blocks, so if you feel a little intimidated by improv go and check this out!

It was the first quilt I quilted with my new Juki. I opted for free motion interlinking and random rectangles, which I thought go very well with the wonky blocks. The quilting turned out so beautiful and is no comparison to what I previously was able to do with my old machine. What you can't see on the photo above is that I also got the large extension table. With that you can turn your machine 90degress so you almost have a long arm feeling, with the only difference that you still need to move the quilt under the machine and not the other way round as you would with a long arm.

Here's a close-up of the quilting at the back of the quilt. I used Aurifil 40wt in white and it works so well with all the different colours.

I opted for a solid white binding. I've done that a couple of times with quilts where there is a lot of solid white and I think it gives the quilt a nice, light frame and lets the blocks stand out.

Again, thanks to my fellow bees of the Quilty Circle of Bees for another really lovely quilt. This will be a gift for a friend of mine and her little boy. Can't wait to see her face, she has no clue that this is for her and her little man!

Linking this to the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy Ellis.
and Let's Bee Social at 'Sew Fresh Quilts'

Bee blocks for Magda

Madga is our Queen Bee for the months of March and April and she picked a beautiful traditional log cabin block. Magda always wanted to do a low volume quilt with peachy colours so she asked her bees for a little help.

The colour request did come with some challenges as the four fabrics I used are the only ones in peach I own, so lucky me :0)

The low volume were to be very light, the contrast achieved is great that way!

And that's all four blocks I made together. Magda asked for 2 of the same blocks. I was unsure first but half way through making these blocks I absolutely love the colour combination!

The finished size of one block is 10" square, the square in the centre is 4x4" and all strips are 2" wide (unfinished).

I'm a month early with my finished blocks. I selected the fabrics while creating my sewing corner in our living room and couldn't wait to start the blocks. I hope Magda likes the blocks as much as I do and I can't wait to see the finished quilt.

Linking this to Let's Bee Social

I am Queen Bee for January/ February!

It's January again and that means I'm Queen Bee for the next two months!

I picked a beautiful improv log cabin block design by Debbie of A Quilter's Table, the tutorial can be found here on her blog.

 
I was planning on making two blocks to show my bees what my plan is, but I kept on going and made four blocks because I had so much fun!! I had to stop myself otherwise I would have made a lot more with no more work left for my bees!

I am in love with this colour combination at the moment.
Light blue:

Dark navy blue:

and yummy mustard:

I am planning to make a baby quilt for a friend who recently had a baby boy.

Can't wait to see what blocks my bees come back to me!

Linking this to Let's Bee Social and Farbenspiel

Scrappy Log Cabin Pillow

I am finishing all my WIPs before the year end so I can start 2017afresh.

Here is a scrappy log cabin pillow I started already in May, hence the happy colours.
I met with a friend back then who wanted to learn how to quilt. So we each sewed a log cabin pillow. Mine just took a lot longer to finish. But here it is:

The overall size is 23 x 23'' (65 x 65cm). The blocks are randomly pieced and I intentionally made them in different sizes.

I used red cross hatch fabric for the back, this is a great contrast to the white sashing and let the blocks really pop.

I quilted the individual blocks in straight spirals. I did this method before and had quite a lot puckering. I think this worked a lot better now.

I used Aurifil variegated thread for all the blocks which coordinated very nicely with the scrappy fabrics of each block.

I'm very happy this pillow is finally finished!

Linking this to Crazy Mom Quilt Finish Up Friday! 

Head over heels for Bloggers' Quilt Festival

I haven't blogged that much recently but that didn't mean I wasn't sewing. I was actually working on a new quilt which I proudly present for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival!

This is also my first custom made quilt for the wife of a dear colleague. She wanted a quilt with turqouise and green and rather dark colours as it might be that their dog is snuggeling up in the quilt as well, so no white. I met the two around Christmas and brought a selection of my fabrics in the desired colours and also colours which accompany the combination.

I also brought all my quilts (..aham, four in total in fairness) to show her what a quilt is actually made of and how it feels. She picked beautiful fabrics and I was really happy that she liked my Gogglebox quilt so much that she wanted the same design for herself.

 
So I combined greens and turquoise with some splashes of red and grey and opted for this beautiful anthracite Oakshott fabrics for the grid and binding.

For the back I opted for a similar design to Gogglebox repeating three blocks and the grid with solid fabrics.

Due to heavy work load and only weekend sewing sessions it took me until now (end of May) to finish the quilt. I also only issue it at the very last minute for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival.

I free motion quilted in two different thread colours, again green and turquoise, and it really stands out on the anthracite fabrics and the light grey at the back.

I'm very happy with this quilt which I named 'Head over heels' due to the elegant Oakshott grid and splashes or red. I'm already having a hard time letting it go, it needs to go in the wash one more time and then it can go to it's new owners.

I'm happy to participate the second time in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival, this is such a great online quilt show!